The invention relates to an athletic shoe, especially a tennis shoe, with an insole forming an ankle joint support in the zone of the arch of the foot or with an ankle joint support applied to the insole and with a tread sole provided with a substantially corresponding constriction in the region of the arch of the foot.
Athletic shoes with ankle supports of the above-defined type have been known for a long time and in many versions.
A disadvantage in the conventional athletic shoes with ankle supports resides in that the corresponding constriction in the ankle zone of the tread sole of the athletic shoe is not shored up so that the ankle support, unless it is of sufficiently rigid construction (which is often impossible for reasons of weight and elasticity) buckles flexurally or is even "broken through". However, this reduces the efficiency of the ankle support noticeably, or even eliminates same altogether.
Other athletic shoes with ankle support and continuous tread sole, preferably a wedge sole, without a corresponding constriction in the ankle region of the tread sole, are disadvantageous insofar as the weight of such athletic shoes is frequently unduly increased. In such designs, a well-fitting form is thus obtained at the cost of a considerable reduction in efficiency of the person wearing such an athletic shoe.
Thus, the invention has an object of fashioning an athletic shoe, especially a tennis shoe, of the type discussed hereinabove in such a way that the effect of the ankle support is fully preserved even in case of extreme stresses on the tread sole, without unduly raising the weight of such an athletic shoe.
This object has been attained according to a preferred embodiment of the invention by providing in the zone of the constriction of the tread sole several discrete supporting profiles of various heights, the enveloping line of which on the free ends of these supporting profiles on the tread side lies at least approximately in the plane of the adjoining tread sole parts.
The discrete supporting profiles thus form, in the zone of the sole constriction, an arbitrarily designed grid, which adequately supports the ankle support so that flexural buckling or even "breaking through" of the ankle support is no longer possible.
The dimensions of the supporting profiles are preferably chosen so that there is no noticeable weight gain.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.